The Independent View: Nevada Top-Two Bill Won’t Advance This Year

Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.

The Nevada Bill for a top-Two system, SB 103, will not advance in this year’s Legislative Session. Senator Aaron Ford (D-Las Vegas), the Senate Majority Leader, does not support the Bill.

Revises Provisions Governing Elections. (BDR 24-521)

AN ACT relating to elections; revising the primary election system for partisan offices; revising methods for filling a vacancy in a nomination for a partisan office; providing that a person may become a candidate for a partisan office at a primary election regardless of political affiliation; authorizing a voter, regardless of political affiliation, to cast a ballot for any candidate for a partisan office in a primary election; providing that the two candidates at a primary election for a partisan office who receive the highest number of votes must be declared nominees and have their names placed on the ballot for the general election; requiring candidates to designate a political party preference or lack thereof on a declaration of candidacy; requiring ballots and voter information to include information relating to the designation of a political party preference by a candidate; eliminating certain grounds for challenging a person who is applying to vote; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

The Bill’s Author, Senator James Settlemeyer, a Republican, may introduce a bill in the next Session to convert Nevada to a Louisiana-type System, in which there are no Primaries, just a General Election in November, and a runoff afterwards in Races in which no one gets 50%+1.

I really like this system but would replace Top-Two to Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV). This would eliminate the Voters from voting more then once, Reduce the Cost of running the Election, and Reduce the Cost to Candidates of running a Campaign.